The San Francisco 49ers beat Carolina to advance to the NFC Championship game in Seattle
Monthly Archives: January 2014
Technology giveth; Technology taketh away!
Where has all the talent gone?
In the early 20th century, Big Bands created the music industry as a business. The Giants like Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey were amongst the first to get paid “Millions” in royalties. They received nothing by today’s standards (Or yesterday’s) but compared to their Vaudeville predecessors, they kicked down the door of the entertainment industry.
Radio and Television had given birth to media. Technology created the Rock Star and the Movie Star. Eventually Technology would kill the Rock Star and the Media. The Bugles who launched MTV with the song “Video Killed the Radio Star” didn’t realize that eventually the Video Star would kill the real musician. An engineer took geological survey equipment and took the software used to map the contour of the subterranean structures. This same technology was used to create a piece of software that would map ones voice and contour it to the proper key of the song. So all a person needed was a set of vocal cords and not necessarily a great voice. The device is called auto-tune. Hollywood, with its’ 60 year old formula was in heaven. It could take a male or female super-model and make them sound like Smokey Robinson or Barbara Streisand.
In fact, in 1985, Todd Rundgren, an artist who does not need an auto-tune device, made a mockery out of the Music industry by releasing an album called “A Cappella”. Its’ working title was: “Me and my big mouth”. Todd used a computer keyboard which was famous at the time called an “Emulator” (Today it’s known as a sampler). The Album featured one artist and no instruments. Todd Rundgren. But his voice is synthesized in the emulator to sound like a drum set, a bass, a horn section and a Hammond B-3 organ. Yet there are no instruments on the album. NONE! He actually had a hit with this experiment.
If you combine this new monster with the morals of Hollywood, you can easily see how the Millie Vanillie scandal could work. But this could only work as long as the gate keepers and key masters existed in Hollywood. Without the so called “Artist & Repertoire agents running the show (And sometimes the mob) you would have Chaos. Auto-tune brought an end to the careers of great yet unattractive artists like Joe Jackson. They for all intents and purposes will never see the cover of a Rock poster again.
Enter the PC/Internet in the 1990s.
Although all of my albums were recorded in a studio with analogue/digital machines and real musicians,(The old school way) the program “Pro-tools” came out and anyone with a slight bit of computer savvy, a touch of engineering skills and a garage band could release an album. What the now “digital artist” lacked was the promotional financial backing. I got in just as promoters and agents started asking for booking fees. In other words, an artist needed a financial backer to split the cost of the signs, newspaper articles and even the band’s bar tab.
As Joe so eloquently said; there’s no longer any money in records for the pure artist. With today’s technology you can spend 10,000 dollars making an album, have one person from Asia buy it and it’s on download sites all over the world that you or your music company haven’t contracted with. Does anyone remember “Napster”?
So musicians are back to the pre-Big Band days. You will only make money if you can create a business, gain a following and sell merchandise. The music is just a loss leader (as they say in business). Yet as I write this, there are garage bands that are legends in their mom’s garage and somewhere at this very moment, some band is making $200.00 a night, playing Mustang Sally and Brick house. Will there ever be another “Frampton Comes Alive” album? No. Will there ever be another outdoor Coliseum tour again? No! Will there ever be another hit song as big as the “Macarena”? Hell No.
TELEVISION WAS NOT EXEMPT EITHER
Enter “REALITY” TV. It started (Ironically) about the same time the music industry took a hit. In the mid-eighties, Sony came out with the “Camcorder”. It was a portable analogue (or semi-portable at the time) Home movie camera designed to create a video you could play on the new invention called the “Video Cassette Recorder”. Again, technology became more advanced and video cameras became a toy everyone could play with. Some took the use of the video camera past the purpose of vacations and little Johnny’s first steps and started making silly videos of people hurting themselves (Jack Ass). Reality TV was born.
Reality TV had always existed in the form of game shows, court shows (Divorce court) and talk shows. Phil Donohue and Oprah were two of the more successful pioneers which eventually lead to The Jerry Springer show where violence was expected. In the late 1990s, everyone had a talk show. It became a competition to see who could get the closest to the edge. Jenny Jones went over the edge and ended up on the witness stand. Her episode on secret lovers united a gay waiter with a homophobic guest. The guest felt nationally humiliated and took the waiter’s life with a shot gun after the show. This event weeded out a lot of the talk show hosts whom no one can remember.
What Hollywood producers found was a simple principle. People enjoyed watching talentless people. Reality TV as a genre was born in the 90s with “The Real World”. Then an amazing phenomenon occurred in 2000, “Survivor “ aired and received huge ratings. The reality genre killed the prime time drama show as we knew it. Reality TV gave the audience a chance to “interact” with the show and use their computers to vote. Thus we saw mega hits like American Idol, and eventually, Duck Dynasty.
Think about it. Producers no longer had to pay actors. They no longer had to pay writers on their staff. And the worst part, reality TV is everywhere. In fact, just as Napster and new recording technology killed the music Industry, Reality TV and YouTube did away with police dramas, variety shows, Action dramas like Law and Order and 24 and pretty much TV scheduling as we knew it. Why? How? The answer is and has always been the bottom line. It’s much cheaper to produce a reality show.
I don’t think the degradation of talent will stop until we start televising gladiators actually killing each other or being eaten by lions during prime time. (News at eleven)
BTW, in the late 1980s and predominantly in 2002, legal drug labs started creating anabolic steroids which are now known as PEBs or Performance Enhancing Drugs. Again, it’s Ironic that as technology was taking down entertainment talent, Sport talent was no exception. Steroids have disappointed sports fans for the last 25 years. Pretty much the same time the VCR came out.
THINGS THAT REALLY MATTER
THERE ARE THINGS THAT MATTER ~ Charles Krauthammer
The unexamined life is not worth living. ~ Socrates
A Life without dreams is not worth living. ~ Ace
I don’t know if today’s indoctrinated public school systems focuse on helping the student find his or her inner voice. (Occupational direction and passion) In the 60s we had elementary school classes like Arts and crafts. We had band class or Music class. You could take “shop” class and learn how to hammer a nail and “Heaven Forbid” use a table saw.
I was a first grader when Elvis had just gotten out of the Army. I was born the year Elvis released “Heartbreak Hotel”, “I want you. I need You, I love you”, “Love Me Tender” “Hound Dog” and “Don’t be Cruel”. Needless to say; it was a good year for the kid from Tupelo Mississippi.
In 1962, Elvis filmed the movie: “Follow That Dream”. The record was the first serious 45 RPM recording I ever owned. (Alvin and the Chipmunks not withstanding) I can’t recall how many times I saw the movie on the silver screen as my parents used the El Rey Theatre as a baby sitter. (Pretty much the way parents today use DVDs and Ipads, in an Orwellian fashion, to keep their toddlers from getting into trouble) So in 1st grade (Or grade 1) when each child had to stand up and tell the class what they wanted to be when they grew up; the girls said: “nurses” and the boys had a little more latitude as some said: “Policemen”, some said: “Firemen”, some said: “Soldiers” and since the space race was popular at the time, some said: “Astronauts”. In my class, one little wise ass kid (Me) stood up and said: “I want to be like Elvis Presley”.
They use to have musical aptitude tests in 1st grade elementary schools. I excelled at almost every instrument I picked up. So they stuck an alto Sax in my hand and said: “You’re going to be a Sax player”. They didn’t have the guitar as a choice way back then. They were all marching band instruments. So from 1962 to 1967, I was well known as a child musical prodigy. I even wrote a song at the age of nine that got published in the town newspaper. I savored the attention. Then later that summer my mother died. I had what is now described as a major paradigm shift. Life as I knew it ended. Overnight my life went from being one of the “Partridge Family” to being Eddie Corbett from “The courtship of Eddie’s father”.
That same year my father took me to Candlestick Park in South San Francisco to see my first Major League Baseball game. It was truly a magical treat as I got to do something special with my father and I got to see the great “Willie Mays”. Move over Elvis, there was something new I admired in my life and a whole new field of endeavor called Baseball. If you’ve never had the experience to see a Major League Baseball game, in the 60s, you walked up rather dark and damp ramps outside of the stadium until you got to your section. Then you opened these double doors and one would expect to see St. Peter standing there as the sun reflecting the outfield grass blinded you in a very cinematic fashion. It’s an experience you will never forget, especially if you’re a youngster.
Then I heard about a thing called little league. Now they have T-ball for the little ones so they don’t get a boo boo on their hands. I saved up 7 books of “Blue Chip” stamps and got my first Spalding Baseball glove. Somehow, (a situation that was out of my hands) my musical performing fell off the face of the earth. Baseball, the Theatre and a crappy inexpensive apartment with a black and white television was where I spent most of my life.
I also happened to live next door to Congressman John J. McFall. He was a Democrat in the House of Representatives. He let me work in his campaign office when I was 12 years old and I hoped he would let me meet Robert Kennedy. June of that summer, a Jordanian named Sirhan Sirhan would end that dream. In 1972 I was an actual team leader for the McGovern campaign. (I was a good useful Idiot) Then in 1982 I met Ronald Reagan on Sutter Street in San Francisco. 
So from 1968 until now, I’ve been a Political activist. I was a democrat until 1979. That’s when I saw what a mess Carter had gotten the country into, and I also started paying Taxes. I can’t say that I am passionate about politics, but like Charles Krauthammer recently said to Bret Baier, and something I’ve been telling those who don’t know anything about politics: “It doesn’t matter if you like or dislike politics, it’s like air. It affects you whether or not you like it”. Some of us who know the nuances of politics realize how damn dangerous those elected can be. Just ask a Jew who was in Warsaw, Poland in 1940. Hell; ask a German national who was forced to be a Nazi in 1933 to 1945. Ask a Chinese nationalist who refused to join the Communist party in the 50s. (If you can find one alive) Ask someone who lost a relative in the Russian revolution how important politics is.
Is Politics more important than your Dreams?
That’s a question I would love to ask Charles Krauthammer. My true passion is music. I have a flame in my soul that transforms me when you put a guitar in my hand. I even played on international TV in 2010.
I (like Charles) love baseball and I know the “Inside Baseball” moves as well as most MLB managers. I think I could even be a general manager. (The guy who hires players) I’ve even played American Legion ball in a minor league baseball stadium. I think a lot of men who needed an escape from reality have used baseball or sports in general to pass the hours and days and eventually a lifetime.
When it comes down to what truly matters, what good is your favorite team if Obama outlaws sports? What good is music if your lyrics are censored like in Russia or China? The older we get, the more you lose your fast hands. The old we get, the more immature the players seem.
Yet the older we get, the more lethal our politicians become.
We are here for four primary reasons. We need to experience love. We need to learn, not just what you’re taught in school but we need to grow spiritually. We need to live. You will define what “living” means. And finally we will leave a legacy. When we die, all we take with us are our memories (Lady and the Tramp) one memory will be how we left our country for our children or the next generation. Up until Obama, we’ve always had generations that had it better than their parents. I’m afraid all of those who said: “I’m not interested in politics” have become useful Idiots to the regime that is destroying the future of this country.
The Unemployment Line
What will YOUR legacy be?
Good bye to Innocence…………….
HOW DID WE GET FROM THIS
TO THIS ?
They say that the 60’s represented the death of Innocence. That makes me sad. As much as we discovered our sexuality, wouldn’t it had been more fun to examine it in private? Now 3rd grade girls dress like prostitutes. They play with dolls that look like prostitutes and a virgin in junior high is almost unheard of. Now they get to see Disney’s Hannah Montana presenting her vagina in a dance called “twerking” How have we benefitted from this?
Rape and other Sex Crimes in the northwest grew by 1000 percent between 1998 and 2000. It surged from 150 to 15,000. Is this because boys don’t know the limits of the sexual revolution? Teenage pregnancies in the 50’s were almost unheard of. Abortions were only done to save the mother. Not because the female sex partner chose not to be a mother. Something as awful as killing an unborn fetus (Some we use to cherish) is now “simply having it taken care of”. The 60s never brought us a sexual revolution, it brought us moral destruction. It was only a revolution from dignified mores. (Look it up)
I was just a toddler in the 50s. I grew up on the Mickey Mouse Club in Black and White. In the 60s, Every Tuesday night at 7:30 I was glued to ABC for Vic Morrow and Rick Jason in a patriotic TV Show called Combat! Hollywood had no gripes producing this show because the greatest gift Hitler gave Hollywood was being WHITE. Other WWII TV Series existed on the small tube, but if the enemy was not Caucasian, it had to be a comedy like McHale’s Navy or Gomer Pyle. I use to enjoy old Ronald Reagan/Doris Day movies where you could get a woody from a romantic Raquel Welch kiss. Now it seems producers aren’t happy unless there is some form of asphyxiaton involved with brutal sex. Sex, not Love.
The greatest tragedy is that not only did the Bill Ayers and Jane Fondas rob us of our innocence; they robbed America’s future generations of their innocence as well.
The Take down of America
“We are just five days away from the fundamental transformation of the United States”. Barack Obama
“The proletariat is the undertaker of Capitalism“. ~ Nikita Khrushchev, August 24th 1963 address to the west in Yugoslavia:
The take down of the United States of America would not be the same as September 1939 in Poland. There are 3 major ways you can take over a country. Let’s (for the sake of example) use Canada. Let’s say Obama wanted to invade our friendly neighbors to the north. A conventional attack would probably accomplish it in a relatively short period of time. (Months)?
We could use conventional warfare. Flood the zone with drones then occupy. This would not be very hard.
We could threaten to annihilate the population of Canada and broker a take over like Hitler in Austria/the Sudetenland.
We could Hit their defense depots with strategic nuclear arms, then occupy. But the radiation would make the productive parts of the country uninhabitable and the fall out would contaminate our country.
Or, we could run a charismatic candidate in the Canadian elections that would bring Canada to its’ knees financially and it would have to seek a deal with the U.S. to protect its’ interests from Russia and China. This would be conquering Canada from within. This is what is happening under the guise as the “Fundamental Transformation of the United States of America”. The only thing protecting us is not the constitution per se, but the conditions the constitution has provided us. The second Amendment. And hopefully, the military would not turn on its’ own citizens. Why do you think this administration and every Democrat wants to get rid of the individual’s guns?
A Communist Amerika
Obama and his communist father’s dreams can not be accomplished by the first 4 methods. I doubt the military would enforce a non-constitutional confiscation of weapons from law abiding citizens. (Nation wide) So to set up a scenario where this can be somewhat accomplished, he needs “civil unrest”. Ever since this Manchurian has been in the white house, he’s constantly been poking “Whitey” in the eye. During the government shut down, he invites immigrants to protest and shit on the D.C. Mall while spending more money to keep true heroes of WWII from visiting their monument which many of their buddies died for. We can easily see who’s side Obama is on.
Poka Poka Poka…….
He nominates an attorney who got a cop killer off of death row to work in the D.O.J. when there are thousands of qualified “clean” attorneys to select from. He picks a major campaign supporter to investigate campaign corruption. He blatantly lies to America about the death of our Ambassador in Benghazi. In doing so, he runs the U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice out on a Sunday morning to do five talk shows to spread the lie, then promotes her to National Security Advisor.
After General Petraeus resigns, he nominates two Doves with hardly a spec of military experience to be secretary of defense. Leon Panetta, who was known for his achievements in agriculture and civil rights was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army after two years of service and the current Yayhoo Chuck Hagel was a Sergeant in the Army who also spent two years on active duty. In the meantime we have brilliant Generals and Admirals who graduated from West Point and Annapolis doing nothing.
Poka Poka Poka…….
He cuts back on the military budget so far that we have more Admirals than we have Navy Ships. He has made us vulnerable to a Chinese/Russian attack. Poka Poka Poka…….
We’ve seen blatant racism in the oval office starting on the first day when our less than dignified Attorney General dropped charges of voter intimidation against members of the Black Panther party for Voter Intimidation. (Which had been filed under the Bush Administration).
This would be the same attorney that negotiated the pardon of the egregious felon Mark Rich by former President Bill Clinton who was serving time for 65 counts of Tax evasion and Ponzi schemes. This is the same Attorney general that was given executive privilege when asked to testify in front of congress for his role in the fast and furious gun running scheme that sent thousands of weapons to the drug cartels in Mexico which resulted in the death of border patrol officer Brian Terry.
Again Poka Poka Poka…….
He is doing every thing he can think of to incite civil unrest in our nation.
This would give him the probable cause he would need to turn the national guard on the American public. With the Reds fighting the Blues, rule of law would be an after thought. This would make the U.S. truly vulnerable to a Communist attack, thus fulfilling Khrushchev’s prophecy and Obama’s father’s dream. He’s got three more years to accomplish it. His administration is one you would find in a banana republic and he’s shown that he’s not afraid to use executive orders.
If there is an uncivil war in our country; let’s hope and pray that the last man standing is a constitutional patriot.
ALL BLEEDING STOPS EVENTUALLY
IT’S CALLED EXSANGUINATION
It’s a Morbid Joke in the medical profession. When you’re struggling to stop a vessel from bleeding, an older much more experienced doctor will say to the young resident: “All Bleeding Stops Eventually”. Translated, what he means is, if you can’t stop the bleeding; It will stop on it’s own when there is no more blood left. That’s what this month’s unemployment report reflects.
The Yayhoos in the White house have been calling the “Unemployment benefits” report the “Unemployed”. The problem is, they assume you’ve found a job just because your benefits ran out. Isn’t it interesting how the unemployed rate drops dramatically the same month the “Emergency unemployment extensions” expired? This would be like the patient losing all of it’s blood. The good news Dr. Obama would says is: “The bleeding stopped”! The bad news is, the patient is dead.
The Jobs created in December (Last month) was an anemic 73,000 (And that would include Holiday temporary hires) in December of 2013 which was the lowest since 2011. How could so many more people find jobs that were not created? Of course once congress extends the unemployment benefits to 1.3 Million unemployed the unemployment rate will jump up to 7 plus. This is how crazy Obama’s employment math is.
Don’t be surprised to see him touting how unemployment is dropping. Like I said, all bleeding stops eventually.
Fatty FAT, fat fat………….
I was reading an article on-line a couple of nights ago about McDonalds French Fries. *(ya I know, too much time on my hands) http://www.rense.com/general7/whyy.htm But if there is one thing that Democrats AND Republicans (and maybe even independents) agree upon is that McDonald’s makes the best fast food French fry. (say that ten times real fast) But what was responsible for that great taste? The Russet Burbank potatoes were deep fried in 93 percent “BEEF TALLOW” . yummmmmmm. Rendered Beef Fat.
But the amount of saturated fat in a small order of French fries was greater than that in a Big Mac. hahahaha.
Personally, I need to watch my Cholesterol. And what most people don’t realize is that you don’t control your Cholesterol by limiting your dietary Cholesterol (ie, eggs, shrimp etc) you moderate your body’s production of Cholesterol by limiting the amount of “Saturated FAT” that you eat. Here’s a good example: Shrimp is very high in Cholesterol yet extremely low in Saturated fat. The chances of you dying from eating a shrimp diet is far less likely than you eating a diet of potato chips that say “no cholesterol” yet is loaded to the brim with “Trans-fat”. (Trans-fat elevates your triglycerides) . Back in the day when the companies were asked to make the public aware of Cholesterol, they chose to list the chemical content of Cholesterol in their product. Most people are completely unaware of the connection between “Saturated Fat” (which BTW is primarily Animal Fat) and Cholesterol.
But the amount of saturated fat in a small order of French fries was greater than that in a Big Mac. hahahaha.
Personally, I need to watch my Cholesterol. And what most people don’t realize is that you don’t control your Cholesterol by limiting your dietary Cholesterol (ie, eggs, shrimp etc) you moderate your body’s production of Cholesterol by limiting the amount of “Saturated FAT” that you eat. Here’s a good example: Shrimp is very high in Cholesterol yet extremely low in Saturated fat. The chances of you dying from eating a shrimp diet is far less likely than you eating a diet of potato chips that say “no cholesterol” yet is loaded to the brim with “Trans-fat”. (Trans-fat elevates your triglycerides) . Back in the day when the companies were asked to make the public aware of Cholesterol, they chose to list the chemical content of Cholesterol in their product. Most people are completely unaware of the connection between “Saturated Fat” (which BTW is primarily Animal Fat) and Cholesterol.
The American Heart Association does recommend that you keep your dail intake of dietary Cholesterol below 300 mg per day.
I truly feel that once you understand the physics of how food works in your body, you can make smart choices about your diet that will help you live a healthier longer life. (if you want to) You’ll be able to see thru the “quick fix” approach of Atkins. (Your body needs carbs, Carbs don’t make you fat, Saturated fat does) Carbs are the Gasoline for the Fire (the fire being Fats)
I have to quote Matthew Kelly:
“If you owned a million dollar Race Horse. Would you feed it McDonald’s Big Macs?”
“If you owned a million dollar Race Horse. Would you feed it McDonald’s Big Macs?”
DEAR GREG PLEASE BAN………
The use of the term: “Shocked, Shocked”. Most of the Journalistic Larva at Fox that are under 40 have no Idea or the culture to know where the memorable line came from. As the head publisher at the Café Americain, it’s my moral responsibility to ask you to please ban the use of this term by anyone at the five with perhaps the exception of yourself and Bob. I hate it when Fox news contributors read a card that was written for them and they stumble over the repetivitive statement: “When Governor Christie heard this he was shocked shocked that this would happen in his administration. Your younger colleagues look lost when they stumble over one of the greatest lines of corruption from the Silver Screen. How dare they “besmirch” Captain Renault’s famous line in Casablanca. When he said: “I’m shocked! Shocked to find out there is gambling going on in this establishment”. “Here’s your winning sir”. “Why thank you. Thank you very much”.
PHYSICAL SEXTING
SEXTING TAKEN ONE STEP HIGHER & DEEPER
Anthony Wiener’s Weener must be going crazy over this one. The DUREX company has developed VIBRATING UNDERWEAR CONTROLLED BY YOUR IPHONE. So Reach out and Touch someone has a new Meaning. Ben-Wah balls on steroids. One can only imagine what the first Emergency Room exam will be like when these things short circuit and fry ones Vaginal mucosa. Can you Imagine standing in front of the Board of directors when your BFF shocks the hell out of Mr. Happy? The possibilities combined with doll costumes are endless……..and Kinky.
49ERS BEAT GREENBAY & ADVANCE IN PLAYOFFS
Ace's Cafe Americain 